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Drying honey in humid emvironment

I posted this earlier this week on the BB website and was suggested to post it over here on the organic beekeeping site. Since originally posting this I have put the honey into gallon buckets and came up with just over 3 gallons. I have tested it every day since straining it and keeping a fan blowing over it and it is staying consistantly above 19.5%. Unfortunately it is getting wintertime over here and that means rain and it has been raining off and on the last 3 days and humidity has bumped up to the 70% range, hot and muggy. Any suggestions?

original post:

I just recently harvest my first batch of honey from 2 of my hives. I pulled only frames of honey that were 90+% capped and left the partially capped framed to be completed for next harvest I crushed and strained the comb and got almost 3 gallons of honey.

After straining for 3 days, I pulled a bottle off to taste & test and my refractometer said it was 19.2% water. I set the uncovered bucket in a closet with a fan overnight and retested after about 15 hours drying and it got worse 19.5%. I tested several samples from top, bottom, middle, all mixed up and it was all over 19%. I tested a section of capped comb I kept for eating and it was 18.5%.

I live in Hawaii where it if contantly very humid in the 55-65% relative humidity. During out wet wintertime or after a rain shower 70+% humidity is the norm.

How can I dry out my honey with such humidity? I was thinking of putting a jar of that damp rid desiccant (calcium chloride) in the closet with a fan and shut the door, but wanted to get others opinions before I ruin my first batch of honey. If I do this would I need to pour the honey into a pan for more surface area? or is the 5 gallon bucket okay aslong as I stir it occasionally?

I'm on day 5 of my honey being uncapped when will it start going bad and fermenting? I know this is a LA based forum, but hopefully someone from other humid places like Florida, Louisiana or Washington can tell me how they deal with the humidity and keeping your honey under 18% water. Once I get the honey below 18% and bottle and cap it do I still need to worry about it reabsorbing water?

Thanks for helping me save my very first harvest of honey. I want it to be a sweet memorable harvest I can remember, not a sour fermented mess that gets wasted.

Re: Drying honey in humid emvironment

I set up a small fan blowing through four boxes of very wet honey. The room was air conditioned and had two dehumidifiers in it. I haven't tested it yet but I'm afraid it might be too dry. The boxes where 90% uncapped.

Re: Drying honey in humid emvironment

I don't have an air conditioner or dehumidifier available. A small dehumidifier is on my future list to buy. Thats what gave me the idea of using the damp rid in the closet. The honey is already in a small closet with a fan blowing on it. I do have a small dehydrator, but don't see how that would help other that warming the closet even more and moving air. I just checked a small thermometer/hygrometer I have in the closet andit says 93 degrees, 72% humidity in the closet where the honey is. Tested several samples after stirring it this morning and they are all still over 19% mosture.

Re: Drying honey in humid emvironment

I'm not an expert but if the humidity in the closet is that high, I don't know if you will succeed. Honey is hydroscopic "miss-spelled" & absorbs liquid right out of the air.
If you can pick up a dehumidifier as some mentioned, & seal it in the closet with the honey, & fan it should work.

Re: Drying honey in humid emvironment

Here are some photos of my 'drying hut'. I use a small fan and small dehumidifier. It lower the moisture content by about .5% / day. It was getting old (and dangerous) hauling supers into my basement walk-in closet.

I slapped this together in an evening and have some improvements to make (adding cross members to the ceiling). The top and bottom frames are cemented together. The corner posts are simply slipped into the fittings on the top and bottom frames.

Re: Drying honey in humid emvironment

I paid $150.00 (at Home Depot) for the one in the picture. It does a nice job, but the hose attachment was designed by a brick. Even with the unit tilted to compensate for the design flaw, water flows into the tank more often than the hose. It's not a big deal if you remember to empty it every day.